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Last replied
21 Apr 2025
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Description
We are looking for some workaway folk to help us continue with the renovation of our house.
I am a retired car mechanic from Iceland. My wife and I bought an old house in Bulgaria in 2018 to retire in the sun. My wife is originally from Scotland and has not fully retired yet so she is jumping back and forth from Bulgaria to Iceland. Our 4 grown children and 4 grandchildren currently live in Iceland.
Both my wife and I speak fluent English and Icelandic, her Icelandic needs improving :) I have a lot of experience with house renovation but my bad health is slowing the process.
The house originally needed total renovation. It is now about 2/3rds finished. I've been working on it in between illnesses. I had to retire early due to ill health. So far we have put in new windows, new floors, a new roof and new electricity, the main part of the house is already finished. There is still much to be done in the extension and the garden. Sometimes we are able to get some locals to help but many times I am working alone but my health is getting worse so often I can't do anything but I can teach you how to do the work and supervise. I would like the house to be finished this year and so would be very grateful to have someone to help out.
Pauline is building a platform to help women thrive through their menopause and beyond. She is using Kajabi to host her website and is making an online course. She is also hosting the Menopause Morph Podcast, so any help with such online stuff would be appreciated. Pauline is not a techie and is always looking to learn new tech things from our workaway visitors. One of the workwayers taught her how to use Instagram :)
There is also a big garden, so if you are interested in doing gardening chores that is possible. We have been working on landscaping the garden but neither of us has much experience with gardening.
We are quite interested in hosting Bulgarians so that we can learn more of the language :)
We currently have 2 adult cats, one who live in the garden and another that lives part time in the house. We also have 2 cockatiel birds we are looking after for a bit. .
Types of help and learning opportunities
Language practice
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
Interests
Movies & TV
Technology
Sustainability
Self development
Politics / Social justice
Pets
Events & social
Culture
Charity work
Music
Performing arts
Languages
Gardening
DIY & crafts
Drawing & painting
Yoga / Wellness
Cycling
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
You can improve your English, and even learn Icelandic :) We live near Plovdiv which was the European city of culture in 2019. Both Plovdiv and Hisaria (Our town of Kaloyanovo is 30 min from Plovdiv and 15 mins from Hisaria) have vast Roman remains and Hisaria has a lot of hot natural spring water, so we try to go to one of the spa's there when we can. You are welcome to come with us to that, we pay :)
My wife Pauline is an oil painter and one of the rooms upstairs will eventually be her art studio after she has made the video course about menopause. You are welcome to try your hand at painting and if she is here, she will be more than happy to teach you. We are not vegan but have hosted many vegan's in the past. Pauline is in the process of reducing her meat intake and is interested in more vegetarian meals.
Help
Assisting with building renovation project i.e. laying floor tiles, painting walls, cement cutting, brick laying, fitting shower, kitchen units etc. All these skills can be taught to you. Landscaping the garden, this we are learning ourselves. If you have experience in gardening, perhaps you can teach us :)
Pauline is working on making an online course to help women thrive through their menopause and beyond. If you have any computer tech skills or marketing or social media skill that would be greatly appreciated :)
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Icelandic: Fluent
Bulgarian: Beginner
Accommodation
Large room on ground floor of the house. It contains a double bed. So we are open to having a single person or a couple. In the photos you can see the room on the ground floor, the one with a yellow wall. We now have curtains in that room.
What else ...
We will provide all meals (sometimes we go to restaurants) and we currently have 2 vehicles a car and a big van. So it will be possible to borrow one of the vehicles if you wish to travel around Bulgaria on your days off. We prefer non smokers.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have good WiFi and a desk for working online. We have often had digital nomads with us. We are very flexible for work times.
Space for parking camper vans
Any size. You can park in our driveway/garden or out on the street, whichever you wish.
Can possibly accept pets
We have cats and we used to accept dogs but it has not turned out well, so I'm sorry no dogs but you can bring your cat if you like. If it is something exotic like a snake, please let us know first :)
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
My animals / pets
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They are both… read more
Pauline always made sure that we had everything we needed and went above and beyond to make sure that we were… read more
Each lunchtime we went to a local workers cafe and had wonderful Bulgarian food. The kitchen at home and all food was… read more
Jonathan was helping with the renovation work with filling between gyps boards and sanding walls, painting walls, putting up ceiling boards including cutting wood and he also did some gardening on the sunny days, cutting grass and pulling weeds.
Kariah helped me with… read more
Tryggvi is such a nice person with a lot of interesting stories to tell. It… read more
Their kitchen is well-stocked, the bedroom is super-comfy, and you can always count on Tryggvi to share a beer with you after the work is… read more
Our hosts were exceptionally… read more
